I have good news, and I have bad news …

Surgery is over and I’m pleased to report that it went as well as any surgery I’ve ever had, starting with the nurse hitting the vein on the first try when starting my IV. (That’s never, ever happened.)

The surgery was more complicated that anticipated. The Hoffa pad was grossly enlarged behind the knee cap. The doctor said he problems just getting into the knee because the Hoffa pad was so “huge” (his words). But beyond that, there were two tears in the meniscus that didn’t show up on the MRI that needed to be repaired. I think this is good news because there was something definitive going on that the surgeon could address and hopefully this will make a major difference in how my knee feels.

I felt pretty good the afternoon after surgery and until about noon the day after surgery. Then the anesthetic that had been injected in the knee wore off. It was absolutely horrible pain. I took all the hydrocodone I could take and then when that didn’t work, I broke into the oxycontin. That finally calmed down the pain until I could get some sleep. Today, things are better, but I did wake up “hung over” from all the drugs.

Today I had my followup with the surgeon and he and I are both pleased with the results. I’m still very sore today, but it’s when I put weight on the knee, not all the time, so I think I’m getting better.

So all of that is good news.

The bad news happened Monday afternoon before the surgery on Tuesday — right when I’m freaking out trying to get everything done so I can take a few days off for surgery.

I get a phone call from my PCP’s office. My visit to him the previous week was not only my pre-op, but also my annual check up. They were calling with some disturbing test results. It appears that my thyroid tests came back very low. Rather than take it at face value, my physician wanted me to redo the test.

The most common cause of hypothyroidism in the US is Hashimoto’s disease. In Hashimoto’s disease, also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, your immune system attacks your thyroid gland. (Does this sound familiar?) Some of the symptoms include fatigue (check), high cholesterol count (check), as well as muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness, especially in your shoulders and hips, and pain and stiffness in your joints and swelling in your knees or the small joints in your hands and feet (check, check, and check).

I’m not saying that I have this. What I really don’t need is yet another diagnosis. But on the bright side, if I do have it, then there are proven treatments that can help it. Maybe all the “stuff” that’s wrong with me is not just RA. Maybe I have another condition that can be successfully treated and improve my overall health.

So the labs are in the same building as my surgeon and my PCP’s offices, so after I got done with my follow-up with my surgeon, I stopped by the lab and had them draw another round of blood to check my thyroid levels. [Sigh.] The good news on this is that I’ll know in pretty short order what the results are.

And tomorrow is my root canal.

Wow. The hits just keep on coming.

Hope whatever comes your way is good news. Thanks for checking in.

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1 thought on “I have good news, and I have bad news …”

So true about that thryoid…that particular type of problem does mimic ra. I have been on thyroid meds for years and do just fine (I had mine removed). You will hopefully feel better if this is the case, you get on the meds and get to the right level of thyroid meds. Glad the knee is doing OK at this point. I won’t discuss the root canal but hope your dentist is as kind and great as mine :-) If this is the case, you won’t feel a thing :-)